


Bullet Holes and Foxholes

by Ford_Ye_Fiji



Category: Castle
Genre: Alternate Universe, Bromance, Gen, Kate Beckett mentioned, No Slash, Please Review, Richard Castle shows up briefly, WW 2 AU, War violence, bullet wounds, i rated it T just in case, i tried to be accurate but I probably failed, lots of shooting and things, world war ii au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-05
Updated: 2017-03-05
Packaged: 2018-09-28 12:16:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,368
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10100219
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ford_Ye_Fiji/pseuds/Ford_Ye_Fiji
Summary: Ryan and Esposito don't become partners in a police department in the 21st century. Instead, let's go back to the 20th Century during the 1940's in the middle of World War II, where two soldiers meet in the midst of a heated battle.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Research: 
> 
> https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/5th_Canadian_Division
> 
> https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gothic_Line#Eighth_Army_dispositions_for_Operation_Olive
> 
> Also, another source was one of my relatives, he's an amateur historian specializing in Military History and Strategy, particularly World War II. He majored in Business Administration with a minor in political science. Another (minor) source is copious amounts of Kelly's Heroes but that doesn't really count...?

"L-look man, I don't think I'm gonna make it."

"Shush, yes you will."

"Look, the Kraut's are coming, yo- you might get away if you follow your fellow soldiers."

The Hispanic man glared at the fellow Allied soldier, "Look, bro. I told you I'm staying here." The American soldier pointed at the jeep balanced precariously over their heads, "Till the wheels fall off, eh?"

* * *

_Esposito had hunkered down in the foxhole, prepared as well as he could be for any approaching Germans and Italians. Soldiers rushed by, bullets fired, and occasionally artillery blew dirt and unlucky men up into the air like confetti._

_He popped up briefly and fired over the ridge at the charging or hiding Germans. The enemy was just a few dozen feet away from him, burrowed in their own foxholes or running at them futilely amidst the barrage of bullets._

_Javier put his head up over the makeshift wall of mud and he gaped, right there was a high-ranking German officer shouting orders at his men. The only problem was that in order to get a decent shot, he'd have to stand up. He decided to risk it, after all one doesn't live forever._

_He stands quickly and fires, he sees the officer fall, and he barely hears a shrill voice yell among the loud cacophony of war, "Look out!"_

_Suddenly his face is in the mud and someone is on top of him. Esposito struggles, grip still tight around the gun, as he tries to shove the possible Axis soldier off of him. However, its definitely someone speaking English who responds to his struggles, "Whoa, whoa! I was trying to help!"_

_The man wriggles off of him, still trying to keep his head down. They're lucky Esposito had the time to make his foxhole a little bigger and deeper than usual. Also the driving rain deepens things too, as well as turning everything into slush and bringing with it the dangers of trench foot._

_He sees a flash of blue eyes in a face that looks as if it was once very pale but is now made entirely of dirt before his rescuer says in a thick Irish accent, "I hate to intrude any further, as you're one of the most accommodating Americans I've met all week, but I think I've been shot."_

_Esposito curses as the slim man sort of crumples into a smaller heap. He's gotten used to the constant noise of war and he lunges for the man, the bullet hole is buried in his side from when he undoubtedly pushed Esposito out of the way. What kind of self-sacrificing idiot threw themselves in the way of a bullet for some stranger? Someone itching for medals that's what._

_Javier's already digging through his belt for bandages. He curses as he uses up the last of them plugging the stranger's leaks._

_The gasping man beside him tugs at the helmet but Esposito shakes his head, "No way, man. You are not taking that helmet off. You might get shot in the head."_

_Esposito can see mussed sweaty blond hair sticking out from underneath the battered and filthy helmet, but the Irishman stops tugging at it weakly, "Already got shot."_

_He huffs and holds out his hand, "Private Javier Esposito, U.S. Fifth Army."_

_The short Irishman takes it, shaking his hand companionably as if they weren't in the middle of a war zone and as if he hadn't just gotten a potentially deadly wound, "Private Kevin Ryan, British 46th Infantry Division."_

_Esposito clutches his gun and leans against the mud wall tiredly. He's too weary to care at this moment as he rubs shoulders with Private Ryan. They are both quiet before the man asks softly, "What did you do before the war, Private Esposito?"_

_Esposito pauses before replying, "I was a detective, bro. I was in homicide but I enlisted and ended up here." Ryan nodded slowly, "Got a girl waiting at the end of the road?"_

_"Her name is Lanie. She nearly slapped me when she found out I'd joined."_

_"I wish you luck, man."_

_Esposito choked on laughter. When the fit died down, he stopped and suddenly returned his gun to position before he fired. A Kraut fell onto the muddy ground, hand dangling over the edge of the foxhole. Esposito sits back, "What about you, bro? What'd you do before you got involved in all this crap?"_

_"Same as you... Esposito, right?"_

_He nodded and Ryan him a wan and weary smile, "Good, sometimes I don't say things quite right... Anyway, I was a policeman. I started out in narcotics but transferred to homicide."_

_"No way, bro. Seriously?"_

_"Yep."_

_Esposito shook his head and tipped his helmet up slightly, "Do you have anybody waiting for you back in, I'm guessing, Northern Ireland?"_

_Ryan shifted and hissed through clenched teeth before he replied thickly, "Jenny O'Malley. We're engaged, we'd set the wedding date... for yesterday I think, but I ended up being drafted months ago."_

_Esposito opens his mouth to say something but he frowns, "What is that noise?"_

_Ryan tries to move but his breath hitches, "I don't know... It sounds like a car...?"_

_There's an artillery explosion and Esposito shouts, "Holy-!" The rest of his explicative is cut off when a jeep falls right above them, neatly crashing into the other end of the hole and wedging itself into most of it. It's front end is lodged into the mud, back wheels sticking out of the opening, spinning wildly._

_Ryan has scrunched himself up, wincing with his eyes closed tight. The front wheels of the jeep rest right above his head. Esposito looks around, the jeep is both a blessing and a hazard, it could blow at any moment because of one stray shot, but it also blocks them off from nearly everybody._

_Ryan glances upwards when Esposito says, "That was close."_

_Ryan presses a hand into his wound as he looks uneasily up at the jeep, "Let's just hope those wheels don't fall off."_

* * *

Five hours later, Ryan's gotten worse for wear and the American, British, Polish, and Canadian forces reluctantly retreat a mile backwards. Esposito and Ryan are officially behind enemy lines, but at least the artillery has eased off. Esposito ignored Ryan's protests that he leave, "Look, bro, you're a decent guy and I'm not leaving you out here alone. You didn't leave me to that bullet, did you?"

The blond man huffs but quiets. Suddenly he says, "Esposito, I think I hear something again."

"Yeah, me too bro. It's called bullets."

"No, that's... That's definitely a tank."

They both stop and hold their breath in a tense silence, suddenly Esposito's face splits into a wide grin, "That's a Sherman! There's only one tank that far out here like that!"

Esposito disappears out of the side of hole. Ryan waits before suddenly another man neatly plops himself down into the mud. He brushes away a strand of his messy brown hair, "Hello, Esposito up there says that you're Ryan?"

"Yes, and you're another American?"

"Sort of. Richard Castle, 5th Canadian Division. I'm a writer, or I was. Come on, let's get you out of here. I'm sure the medics need someone to occupy those comfy beds of theirs."

It takes some doing but pretty soon Castle and Esposito had him situated on the end of the Sherman and they roll out. Esposito comes back out of the tank's entrance and settles next to the Irishman, "So this was all Beckett's doing, huh?"

Ryan's brows furrow as the M4 Sherman tank lurches into motion, "Beckett?"

"We picked her up awhile back. She was an Italian Resistance fighter and she absolutely refused to leave. Captain Montgomery finally let her stay on the condition that she stayed away from the front lines. Pretty fluent in English and guns too, which has come in handy."

Ryan looked back at the tiny foxhole where they had stayed. The jeep was still stuck in the mud. Esposito nudged Ryan's shoulder and jerked a thumb at the sagging car, "Hey man, till the wheels fall off, eh?"

Ryan gave his new friend a crooked smile, "Till the wheels fall off."


End file.
